UW’s Wyoming Institute for Disabilities Receives ECHO Excellence Award

The Wyoming Institute for Disabilities (WIND), an academic unit of the University of Wyoming’s College of Health Sciences, recently received an ECHO Excellence Award for its Project ECHO.

The ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) Excellence Award recognizes outstanding ECHO teams from around the world for their contributions to the ECHO global community. The award was given at the global MetaECHO Conference at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

“This award is representative of the organizational, national and international influence of university centers on disabilities like WIND that work alongside communities to co-create accessible and inclusive systems,” says Canyon Hardesty, a WIND associate director who accepted the award on behalf of the WIND Project ECHO team. “The ECHO model embodies the spirit of inclusivity and collaboration, transcending geographic barriers and bringing best practices to the doorstep of those who need them. The ECHO model has changed the conversation in health, education and family supports across the globe, and WIND is honored to have been recognized for our contribution.”

Project ECHO is an innovative model of professional development used to build connections and expand best practices for professionals and families on improving outcomes in health care, education and daily living. ECHO participants meet for 75-minute sessions via Zoom, each consisting of a professional development presentation, followed by a unique case presentation or success story.

Using a social learning, collaborative model, participants can receive input and guidance from a multidisciplinary team of professionals, as well as other session participants.

In 2014, WIND launched ECHO networks to support educators, including ECHO in Assistive Technology and ECHO in Autism. WIND since has expanded UW Project ECHO, launching a total of 20 unique networks in education, health and family support, focusing on broad systems of community support that impact people with disabilities and their families in Wyoming.

Dr. Sanjeev Arora, founder and executive director of Project ECHO, recognized WIND and its leadership for their innovation in applying the ECHO model beyond health care.

“They were the first to move ECHO beyond health into childhood education, recognizing both its connection to health and the need to expand professional development opportunities for educators in isolated rural areas,” Arora says. “They provided the proof point that ECHO not only works for education, but also has the potential to transform it.”

About the UW College of Health Sciences

UW’s College of Health Sciences trains health and wellness professionals and researchers in a wide variety of disciplines, including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, speech-language pathology, social work, kinesiology, public health, health administration and disability studies. The college also oversees residency and fellowship programs in Casper and Cheyenne, as well as operating a speech/hearing clinic in Laramie and primary care clinics in Laramie, Casper and Cheyenne.

With more than 1,600 undergraduate, graduate and professional students, the college is dedicated to training the health and wellness workforce of Wyoming and conducting high-quality research and community engagement, with a particular focus on rural and frontier populations.